Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,322 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Essex Property Trust worth $66,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $291.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $286.78 and a 200-day moving average of $292.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.92%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.